Latest figures from information company NPD Group show that coffee shops sales have increased by 5 per cent in the UK in the last four years with £1.4bn cups sold last year.
Although it still lags behind other countries in Europe in terms of overall sales, the UK was also the only country in Europe to see out of home consumption of coffee increase with the number of in-house visits up 3.5 per cent last year.
Hotels and pubs
The UK's growing interest in coffee is one reason why hotel group Jurys Inn has installed Costa coffee bars in the lobby areas of 24 of its UK hotels.
The operator, which has invested £25m in upgrading its estate over the last two years, has just completed the coffee bar roll-out and is hoping that both guests and local customers will use the facility.
"Since we've refurbished our hotels, we've been keen to make our lounge areas more attractive and provide somewhere for people to hold meetings, or give a nice area for someone to work in. Adding in the coffee bars is just another way of making a better experience for customers," said a company spokesperson.
Wanting to offer its customers a better experience and attract a wider customer base was something the Sun Inn, part of Cotswold-based brewery Hook Norton’s pub estate, also wanted to do.
Following requests from villagers and regulars for somewhere to meet outside of its usual trading hours, the pub in Hook Norton extended its opening hours to serve coffee in the morning and throughout the day, leading to an increase in trade.
Likewise, Chameleon Bar & Dining's Halfway House pub in Shipley, Yorkshire, has seen sales of its hot drinks increase by 14 per cent since entering a partnership with Taylor's of Harrogate to develop its coffee and tea menu.
“Hot drinks are big business for us”, said pub manager Adam Cohen. “Especially during the winter months when customers like to relax on the sofas by the fire. There’s a real coffee culture and one of our sister sites had started pushing their coffee offering and we wanted to do the same – being a local supplier Taylors of Harrogate was a great fit.
Capitalising on coffee
NPD's director of business development Guy Fielding said research showed that it wasn't just key coffee chains that were benefiting from the increasing interest in coffee. Speciality coffee sales in the quick service sandwich channel had increased from 10.5 per cent to 13 per cent, and within quick service bakery from 6.7 per cent to 11.3 per cent with other outlets not traditionally focusing on coffee 'now aware that a good quality coffee proposition will attract new customers.'
“There is no doubt that British consumers have embraced a coffee culture and have become far more sophisticated and educated in their tastes, he said. "While the core coffee chains were the first to capitalise on this trend, the high street sandwich shops and bakeries, not to mention pubs and even petrol forecourts, are all getting in on the action.”